Cognitive and attention skills in children with autism, developmental disabilities and children who are deaf. Roles of metacognition (awareness of self) and language proficiency (e.g., English or signed systems) in the cognitive development of these groups. Early identification; assessment methods; intervention effectiveness.

Infants, children and families at risk. Cognitively based interventions at the interface between attachment and parental attributions. Cross-cultural Cognitive-behavioural interventions for children. Children with special needs.

The Teen Relationships Lab studies adolescents’ social development and psycho-social health. Dating and romantic relationships are the main focus right now. I am interested in normal development, atypical development and high-risk contexts. Current projects examine healthy relationships and resilience, conflict, break-ups, dating violence, teen mothers, and relationships of vulnerable youth.

Child and adult survivors of abuse; effective models for the treatment of psychological trauma; understanding child and adult attachments to help guide appropriate interventions; the role of social support in recovery from abuse.

Assessment/diagnosis of autism and developmental disabilities, evaluation of the effectiveness of interventions (including especially intensive behavioural intervention), and the positive and negative impacts on families in terms of stress and coping (parents and siblings).

Assessment, diagnosis and treatment of attention and learning disorders in children and adolescents; understanding how cognitive and affective processes develop in clinical and healthy populations; dual process models of human reasoning in clinical and healthy populations.

Prevention and treatment of mental health problems in people with autism spectrum disorders and/or intellectual disabilities across the lifespan. Experience of family caregivers. Mental health services for people with developmental disabilities. Program development and evaluation, the impact of Special Olympics on the psychological well-being of participants, and of cognitive-behavioural and social skill interventions.

Social & emotional development, including gender differences & immigrant/generational status. Currently investigating transitions of emerging adults (e.g. transition to university, domestic and international students, the army, etc). Also interested in developmental changes (from preschoolers to young adults) in social relations, consultant choices, social support, social participation skills & emotion cognition.

The overall objective of my research program is to improve our understanding of cognitive dysfunction, psychological functioning, as well as mechanisms of compensation and recovery, in patients suffering from neurological disorders.

My current research efforts are focused on mild traumatic brain injury and sport-related concussion in civilians, service members and veterans, as well as student and professional athletes. I am pursuing projects focused on 1) understanding how pre-morbid factors influence concussion risk and recovery, and (2) examining potential long-term consequences of multiple concussions and exposure to repetitive head trauma over the lifespan.

Clinical Neuropsychology

FACULTY FROM OTHER AREAS AFFILIATED WITH THE CLINICAL DEVELOPMENTAL AREA

Explores how the emotional state of an observer, and also the emotional significance of environmental information, influences the deployment of attention. Exploring the experience of boredom, and individual differences that impact on susceptibility to boredom. Focused on gaining a better understanding of basic psychological processes, as well as examining issues that relate more specifically to clinical psychology.

Psychological, emotional, and biomedical factors involved in acute and chronic pain with a particular emphasis on (1) understanding the psychological and physiological processes and mechanisms involved in the transition of acute, time-limited pain to chronic, pathological pain; (2) identifying factors involved in the establishment and reactivation of pain memories after amputation (phantom limb pain) and other traumatic events; (3) pre-emptive analgesia and other preventive pharmacological interventions designed to minimize acute post-operative pain and to elucidate the mechanisms involved in post-operative sensitization; (4) developing pharmacological and nonpharmacological interventions to minimize pain and stress in hospitalized infants; and (5) gender differences in acute post-operative pain and analgesic consumption.

DAVID M. REGAN
(PhD DSc London University)
(Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus)FRSC e-mailweb site

History of child development and psychology, including the influence of eugenics and ideas of race. Normal and atypical development and the influence of evolutionary theory and biology on psychological models of development. Personality theory and its history. The conceptual and historical basis of classification and classificatory systems.